The 22-year-old McIlroy knows, however, that the older generation on the PGA Tour still has something left in the tank even as the new kids on the block at times seem to be taking over.

"Exciting times for golf," McIlroy said after taking the top spot by withstanding Woods' 62 in the final round of the Honda Classic three weeks ago. "I think it's fantastic for the game, seeing Phil do what he did at Pebble and Tiger playing like he did (on Sunday at PGA National). And hopefully I'm in there somewhere, getting to No. 1.

"It's good for the sport."

Perhaps Bay Hill is the place for Woods, his left Achilles apparently healed, to answer what has become a weekly question: "Is Tiger all the way back?"

This is a tournament the erstwhile No. 1 player in the world has won a record six times, including four in a row from 2000 to 2003 and then again in 2008 and 2009 with dramatic putts on the 72nd hole in each of the last two.

"Certain courses fit your eye, and this is one of them," said Woods, who lived right down the road from Bay Hill at Isleworth until moving to Jupiter, Fla., last year. "I can see my lines on the greens and the fairways set up well for shaping my shots. I've always enjoyed playing there."

Els (1998 and 2009), Mickelson (1997) and Singh (2007) also have won at Arnie's place, and when Lefty is inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in May only Woods will be missing from golf's latest great generation. His time will come soon enough.

These guys carried the game for the best part of the last 20 years, all except Mickelson holding the No. 1 ranking at one time or another. Although their salad days are behind them, they still can't be discounted.

This fabulous foursome has combined for 163 PGA Tour victories, including 27 major titles.

Of course, the 36-year-old Woods leads with 71 wins and is chasing Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major championships on a sometimes gimpy left leg.

Mickelson, who will turn 42 in June and has played much of his career in Woods' shadow, claimed his 40th victory last month by closing with a brilliant 64 at Pebble and has four majors to his credit -- including three Masters titles.

The 49-year-old Singh, who has been hampered by injuries in recent years, has won 34 times on the U.S. circuit, including three victories in the Grand Slam events.

The Big Fijian is the best player in history after the age of 40 with his 22 victories after reaching the big 4-0, surpassing the record of 17 set by Sam Snead.

Els, the 42-year-old South African known as "The Big Easy," has 18 PGA Tour titles and three majors, but he played more of an international schedule than the other three and has 46 other victories around the world.

While the Woods generation has begun to wane, others in addition to McIlroy, Donald, Westwood and Kaymer have stepped forward, a group that includes Masters champion Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa, Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland and Jason Day of Australia.

Last year: Martin Laird of Scotland became the first European to capture the title at Bay Hill, capping a roller-coaster of a day by two-putting from 90 feet, the second from three feet for par that gave him a one-stroke victory over Steve Marino. Laird, whose three-stroke lead became a three-stroke deficit in a span of only seven holes, bounced back with birdies at Nos. 15 and 16 before closing with two clutch pars to post a 1-over-par 73. Marino lost his lead with a bogey at No. 15 and a double-bogey 5 at No. 17 before making a closing birdie for a 72 that left him one stroke shy of his first PGA Tour victory.

Last year: Sandra Gal became the second player from Germany to win on the LPGA Tour when she hit an 83-yard wedge shot to within two feet for a birdie on the 18th hole to beat Jiyai Shin by one shot at Pacific Palms Resort in Industry, Calif. Gal's winning putt came after Shin lipped out her birdie try from five feet to finish at even-par 73. Gal, who was an All-American at the University of Florida, led after 36 holes by opening with 67-68, but Shin took a one-stroke lead into the final round by shooting 64 on Saturday. Gal, who finished with a 71, joined Tina Fischer, who won the 2001 Asahi Ryokuken International, as the only German winners on the LPGA Tour.

Last year: Tom Lehman claimed his second victory in four starts to open the 2011 season, winning by four strokes over Nick Price, Jeff Sluman and David Frost. Lehman won three times on the Champions Tour last season, giving him five titles on the circuit, after he won five times on the PGA Tour, including the 1996 Open Championship. He took the lead at Fallen Oak by shooting a course-record 8-under-par 64 in the second round but briefly fell into a tie with Sluman when he carded a bogey on the first hole of the final round. Lehman then regained control with five birdies in a span of 10 holes through No. 13 en route to a winning 69.

Notes, quotes

• During the first round of the Transitions Championship last week, playing partners Padraig Harrington and Zach Johnson each thought he was away and was going to play first at the 17th hole.

Both went through their pre-shot routines and were getting set to play, Harrington with a 75-foot putt and Johnson looking at a chip shot from off the green.

Finally, their caddies saw what was happening and stopped them.

After several seconds in which both players said, "You go first," it was decided that Harrington probably was away, so he stroked his putt and, incredibly, holed it for a birdie.

It was the longest putt he has made in his PGA Tour career.

"I would like to tell you it was funneling right up the green and couldn't go anywhere else," said Harrington, who went on to set a course record of 10-under-par 61, lowest score of his career. "But certainly, the last 15 feet it was right in the middle of the hole. That's a bonus, obviously."

After waiting, Johnson made bogey.

"I had told him I was going to go first, but he didn't understand my Irish," said Harrington, whose longest putt previously was a 65-footer for eagle on the 72nd hole of the 2005 Barclays Classic to give him a one-stroke victory over Jim Furyk.

• The PGA Tour made it official last week, announcing that the 2013 BMW Championship will be played at Conway Farms Golf Club in Chicago's north suburb Lake Forest, Ill.

The Chicago Tribune reported last month that when the event returns to the Windy City area next year, it would not be played at its longtime home, Cog Hill Golf and Country Club in Lemont, Ill., instead going to Conway Farms.

The BMW Championship, conducted by the Western Golf Association to benefit the Evans Scholars Foundation, is the third of four events in the PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedEx Cup and determines the final field of 30 for the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

"We're excited to be returning to the Chicago area and especially for this opportunity to conduct our first professional championship on the North Shore since 1972," said Vince Pellegrino, the Western Golf Association's Vice President, Tournaments.

"Many of our volunteers and contributors to our championships and scholarships live in the city's northern suburbs, and this gives us the opportunity to reward their support by showcasing the world's top golfers on a course in their own backyard."

The 2013 championship at Conway Farms is scheduled for the week of Sept. 9-15.

Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind., will be host to the 2012 BMW Championship the first week of September, and Cherry Hills Country Club in Denver, Colo., will be the venue for the 2014 BMW Championship.

Conway Farms was host to the 2009 Western Amateur and also has been a champion of the Evans Scholars Foundation, the WGA's charitable arm that sends more than 820 caddies to college every year.

"As a longtime member at Conway Farms, I feel like it offers one of the best all-around tests of golf in the Chicago area and will be a course that my fellow pros really enjoy," said Luke Donald, the No. 2-ranked player in the world.

Donald will appear in a public service announcement in support of the Evans Scholars Foundation, the sole beneficiary of the BMW Championship.

• The LPGA announced that Morgan Pressel will serve as the Girls Golf National Ambassador for the next three years, through 2015.

In this capacity, Pressel will help communicate the benefits of the Girls Golf program, whose mission is to improve the lives of girls and women throughout the game of golf.

"I am honored to serve as national ambassador and to continue to be part of an organization that encourages girls to pursue their dreams," said the 24-year-old Pressel, who participated in the Girls Golf program as a youngster.

"Golf has always been a big part of my life, and I am thrilled to be able to help introduce more girls to the game."

Girls Golf is administered through a partnership between the LPGA Foundation and the United States Golf Association. Girls Golf has grown to nearly 250 sites across the United States, with over 10,000 girls ages 7-17 expected to participate in 2012.

Pressel is one of many success stories among more than 80,000 girls who have participated in Girls Golf since its inception. She joined the LPGA Tour at the age of 17 and is the youngest-ever winner of a modern LPGA major championship, the 2007 Kraft Nabisco Championship.

"Having Morgan as the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf National Ambassador reflects the positive impact the program can have on a young girl," said Nancy Henderson, president of The LPGA Foundation.

"Morgan is a fantastic role model; she inspires girls to live an active, healthy lifestyle through golf and makes them believe that dreams can come true."

Girls Golf encourages girls through the five Es: to Empower, Enrich, Engage, Exercise and Energize.

•Mike Weir has struggled through injuries the last few seasons. He missed the last half of 2011 following left elbow surgery and is down to past champion status on the PGA Tour.

So the 2003 Masters champion last week headed to Europe to play in the Open de Andalucia Costa del Sol at Aloha Golf Club in Spain. He has fond memories of Spain, having captured the 2000 WGC-American Express Championship, one of his eight PGA Tour titles, at Valderrama.

"I decided to come and play here because I need to play more," said the 41-year-old Canadian, who has taken up European Tour Membership for this season to facilitate his comeback. "I will try to play more in Europe toward the summer -- Ireland, France, Germany and obviously The Open.

"I am planning to bring the family with me. I have two girls who are 14 and 11 years old, and I want to be as close to them as possible."

Weir will be back on the PGA Tour the next three weeks for the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Shell Houston Open and the Masters, but because of his status he can't get into any many tournaments as he would like.

Thus, the excursions to Europe.

"I haven't been there for a while," Weir said after shooting 4-under-par 68 in round one, the first time he had broken par in 13 months, since the first round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

"Physically it's there. Now it's getting over the mental hurdle. I got into such bad habits when I was favoring my elbow."

Weir could not break the par of 72 in any of his last three rounds at Aloha Golf Club and wound up in a tie for 52nd.

•Lucas Glover and Scott Verplank were back on the PGA Tour last week for the first time this season in the Transitions Championship, and they had very similar experiences.

Glover, coming back from a right knee injury he sustained the week before the season started while paddle boarding at Kapalua, and Verplank, returning from left wrist surgery last September, compared notes during a practice round on Tuesday.

"I'm pretty sure I'm going to be OK," said the 41-year-old Verplank, who has won five times on the PGA Tour. "It's not 100 percent yet. I'm still a little bit leery of hitting irons off marginal lies, when you know you have to take a divot and go get it. A lot of the deal is getting over it in your head."

Verplank, trying to get ready for the Masters in two weeks, hoped to return during the latter part of the West Coast Swing but wasn't quite ready and had to wait until the PGA Tour came to Florida.

He is eligible for the Masters because he tied for fourth last year in the PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club, one of the rare weeks in the season in which a loose tendon in his wrist stayed put most of the time.

Glover, the 2009 U.S. Open champion, was in Hawaii on vacation getting ready for the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, the winners-only opener that he qualified for by winning the 2011 Wells Fargo Championship.

He withdrew from the tournament after being injured and planned to play on the West Coast, but he didn't realize how serious the injury was until another week would roll around and he still wasn't fit to play.

"The knee is 100 percent," said the 32-year-old Glover, who has three PGA Tour victories. "I'm in good gym shape but need to make sure I'm in good golf shape to be able to walk four days in a row. That's the plan for this week."

Verplank shot 75-69--144 and missed the cut by three strokes, while Glover came in at 70-75--145.

Course source

In the public eye: Celebration Golf Club in Celebration, Fla.

The layout: Robert Trent Jones Sr. and Jr. carved this magnificent 6,792-yard layout, which opened in 1996, out of the wild, natural habitat of Central Florida.

The course plays to a rating of 73.0 and a slope of 135 from the tips, but there are six sets of tees, including a learner's loop. There also is a three-hole, par-3 junior course, which youngsters can play for $1.

Much of the course plays on open land in links-style, but other parts are through typical lush Florida landscape, with lakes on several holes.

Robert Gamez, who has won three times during his PGA Tour career, owns a home across the street from the 18th tee and holds a charity tournament at the course every year.

Celebration reopened recently, in time for its 15th anniversary this month, after a three-month renovation of its greens, which were replanted with Champion turf grass.

General manager: Tano Malentin.

Local knowledge: Walt Disney once dreamed of building the town of the future and Celebration is it, although the Disney Corporation sold this quaint village 10 minutes from Disney World in 2004.

The golf course, which has been rated the 12th best in Florida by one publication, is the centerpiece of the town.

The front nine is mostly wide open, with a links feel, especially the par-5, 533-yard sixth hole. It plays alongside a lake that runs down the left side of the hole to a green that slopes dramatically from back to front. When the pin is up front, only the top of the flagstick can be seen over a large bunker that guards the green.

Part of the back nine plays through a heavily-wooded wetlands area. The best stretch of the course comes at Nos. 12 through 17, a secluded area where you just might see alligators, boar, wild turkey, deer, raccoon and armadillo.

Best hole of that stretch is No. 16, a scenic 211-yard par-3 that plays over a lake, and the course winds up with another challenging par-5, which plays to 566 yards, usually into the wind.

Celebration Golf Club has been the site of the 1999 USGA Senior Amateur Qualifier, the 1999 LPGA Section Championship, the 1999-2001 Oldsmobile Scramble National Finals, the 2000 Central Florida Amateur Championship, a 2002 U.S. Senior Open Qualifier and the 2003 Florida State Public Links Championship.

Other courses in the area: The four Disney Resort Courses — the Magnolia, the Palm, Lake Buena Vista and Osprey Ridge — are 15 minutes away.

Also nearby are Falcon's Fire Golf Club in Kissimmee, Southern Dunes Golf and Country Club in Haines City, Mystic Dunes Golf Club in Kissimmee, the New Course at Grand Cypress Resort, the Legacy Club at Alaqua Lakes in Longwood, Hawk's Landing Golf Club, Royal St. Cloud Golf Club, three courses at Reunion Resort and Club, Bay Hill Resort and Club, and ChampionsGate Golf Resort.

Where to stay: The Celebration Hotel has the charm and style of a Florida resort hotel of the 1920s.

The Disney resorts -- the Grand Floridian, the Contemporary, the Polynesian, the Wilderness Lodge, the Dolphin, the Swan, the Beach Club and all the rest -- and numerous hotels in the Lake Buena Vista area are only a short drive away.

The Orlando World Center Marriott, site of Hawk's Landing Golf Club, is the largest hotel in the world-wide chain.

The layout: Disney's 81 holes of golf are inhabited by all sorts of critters, and we're not talking about Mickey Mouse and his pals in the Magic Kingdom.

Disney's five courses — the Magnolia, the Palm, Osprey Ridge, Lake Buena Vista and Oak Trail, a nine-hole walking course — are all nature preserves inhabited by alligators, wild boar, turkeys, deer, armadillos, bobcats, snakes, turtles and even the rare and endangered Florida panthers. There are bald eagles, hawks, cranes and countless other species of tropical birds.

The Magnolia, Palm and Oak Trail are located at the Shades of Green Resort, which caters to military personnel and their families, opposite the entrance to the Magic Kingdom, while Osprey Ridge is close to Epcot and Lake Buena Vista is in the Downtown Disney area.

Director of golf: Lee Rawls.

Local knowledge: The Magnolia and Palm courses opened in 1971, and the Lake Buena Vista course followed a year later. All are traditional layouts designed by Joe Lee and have been used in what started as the PGA Tour's Walt Disney World Classic in 1971.

The tournament, now known as the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Classic, is the final event of the Fall Series, with long-hitting Robert Garrigus defending his title this week.

Jack Nicklaus must have liked Lee's work because he won the tournament the first three times it was played. Tiger Woods, who lived nearby in Isleworth before moving south to Jupiter, Fla., earlier this year, has won the tournament twice.

Osprey Ridge, designed by Tom Fazio, is a resort layout that opened in 1991.

The Magnolia, longest of the Disney layouts at 7,190 yards, encourages golfers to let it rip off the tee because of its wide fairways. But beware of the 97 bunkers, including the famous "Mousetrap," shaped in the profile of Mickey on the sixth hole, and the water that comes into play on 11 holes.

The Palm Course is a classic, with elevated tees and greens, wandering through the Florida woodlands, with water coming into play on nine holes.

Lake Buena Vista, situated in a classic country club setting, is the shortest of the Disney courses at 6,819 yards, but is challenging enough to have hosted PGA Tour, LPGA Tour and United States Golf Association events. The sixth hole has an island green similar to TPC Sawgrass, home of the Players Championship.

Osprey Ridge winds for 7,101 yards from the back tees through dense vegetation, oak forests and mossy hammocks. It offers the best finish at Disney and one of the finest in Florida — the 479-yard 16th, the 210-yard 17th and the 429-yard 18th.

Other courses in the area: Celebration Golf Course is not on Disney Resort property, but is a nearby cousin designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and Jr. in the town of the same name built by the Disney Corporation.

Also in the neighborhood are Royal St. Cloud Golf Club, Kissimmee Bay Country Club, Mystic Dunes Golf Club and Falcon's Fire Golf Club in Kissimmee, Hawk's Landing Golf Club at the World Center Marriott, the Crooked Cat and Panther Lake courses at Orange County National Golf Center, and 45 holes at the Grand Cypress Resort, all in Orlando; ChampionsGate Golf Club, designed by Greg Norman, a few miles west of Orlando, and Reunion Golf Club, with courses designed by Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson, in Kissimmee, another development west of Orlando on Interstate 4.

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